Confronting Heteronormativity in Online Games

Pulos, Alexis

doi:10.1177/1555412013478688

Cited by 42 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This paper has looked at some of the ways people constructed support/opposition for the inclusion of a transgender character in World of Warcraft. While previous research has typically shown an antifeminist and anti LGBTQ+ stance on the same fora (see Pulos 2013;Braithwaite 2014), this work has argued that the posters are, on the whole, in favour of including transgender characters. This work has demonstrated the complexities of how transphobic ideologies are expressed through language, and how such ideologies are challenged in an online context.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Politics, pronouns and the players

Heritage

2022

GENL

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Despite being released in 2004, the online videogame World of Warcraft (WoW) introduced its first transgender character only in 2020. This article examines how players responded to this new character, named Pelagos, analysing how many players were for/against the inclusion of Pelagos, how these views were constructed and how players interact with each other. Data from official WoW fora demonstrate a surprising backlash against transphobia and overwhelming support for the inclusion of a transgender character. Those who were against the inclusion of Pelagos framed their arguments in terms of objections to political correctness, arguing that gaming should remain politically neutral. By contrast, those in favour of including Pelagos argued that videogames are political by nature. Further, examination of pronouns revealed that Pelagos is very rarely misgendered. Such a positive response has implications for research into Critical Discourse Studies and for videogame companies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Politics, pronouns and the players

Heritage

2022

GENL

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“…Research conducted by Amanda Cote (2017), Genesis Downey (2012), and Kishonna Gray (2012) are just a handful of examples detailing the extent to which some women must go to protect themselves from being on the receiving end of hostile behavior while playing MMOG or First-Person Shooter games. Critical discourse analysis of posts to online gaming forums have found that heteronormative undertones of the World of Warcraft player community creates a culture of hostility toward LGBTQ communities (Pulos, 2013) and the same forum's adamant disavowal of feminism have made community conversations about stereotypical gender roles all but non-existent (Braithwaite, 2014). Taken together, this scholarship is evidence that a toxic undercurrent exists across digital cultures, and is not isolated to a particular game or specific player community.…”

Section: Why Do Players Leave Games?mentioning

confidence: 85%

Anti-social social gaming: community conflict in a Facebook game

Bergstrom

2021

Critical Studies in Media Communication

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Social Network Games (SNGs) are played via social networking sites such as Facebook. In this article, I examine some of the negative interactions that happen within SNGs that may be obscured by the assumption-driven by benevolent sexism-that these games are entirely collaborative. Drawing on posts made to an online forum devoted to YoWorld-a long-running Facebook game-I detail player frustrations with bullying and other forms of interpersonal conflict. I argue that if casual games are only ever seen as docile spaces of collaborative play, it reaffirms the gendered and stereotypical assumptions underpinning who plays SNGs and for what reasons. Furthermore, I argue that assumptions about collaborative and welcoming environments may also be setting novice players up for disappointment when they inevitably encounter anti-social behaviors within a SNG gaming community. If SNGs are framed as an easier entry point for girls and women into broader gaming cultures, it is imperative that alongside encouraging their play, we also equip them with the necessary tools to respond to the negative interactions that they might experience, thereby reducing the likelihood of their eventual disengagement from gaming.

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“…A distinctive practice observed in this regard is the utilization of game avatars to participate in virtual sexual and romantic activities (Brown, 2015;Liu, 2019;Sundén & Sveningsson, 2012). Despite the existing scholarship that scrutinizes the cultural significance of transgressive gameplay and its associated ramifications, including homophobia, misogyny, and gender-based harassment (Pulos, 2013;Shaw, 2017;Sundén & Sveningsson, 2012), there is a dearth of research that addresses why the inclusion of queer characters in game design as a strategy for combating homophobia has proven to be unproductive and less appealing to queer players (Pulos, 2013;Shaw, 2017;Sundén & Sveningsson, 2012).…”

Section: Social Games Lgbtq Platforms and Transgressive Gameplaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgressive Play and the Inherent Limits of Business Growth for China’s LGBTQ Platforms: The Case of a Social Game in Aloha

Wang

2023

Social Media + Society

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Since 2016, China’s online LGBTQ platforms, such as Blued and Aloha, have been seeking to increase user acquisition and retention by introducing new functionalities to their interfaces. Although these attempts were promising at first, most of their endeavors proved unsustainable, largely due to the condition in which their businesses operate: a niche audience segment in a winner-take-all mobile market and a highly regulatory market in which LGBTQ content is often made a site for the execution of power. This article investigates the now-defunct role-playing social game Werewolf embedded in Aloha, one of the popular dating apps for queer men in China. By bringing together scholarship on game studies and queer media studies, it is argued that social games embedded in dating apps foster a new form of sexual sociality in which desires become increasingly gamified and intimacy networked, which are essential for queer social media to retain users. Although Werewolf was ultimately closed due to Aloha’s budgetary controls, queer players have emerged as a promising market for their unique engagement in social games. LGBTQ platforms, however, are not the main beneficiary of the queer gaming market because of the winner-take-all mobile ecosystem. The article highlights the inherent limits of “outward” expansion of China’s LGBTQ platforms into the mainstream market and suggests that prioritizing the unaddressed needs of their niche audience through an inward approach may be a more viable strategy for business growth in a mobile ecosystem dominated by a handful of major players.

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Confronting Heteronormativity in Online Games

Cited by 42 publications

References 37 publications

Politics, pronouns and the players

Politics, pronouns and the players

Anti-social social gaming: community conflict in a Facebook game

Transgressive Play and the Inherent Limits of Business Growth for China’s LGBTQ Platforms: The Case of a Social Game in Aloha

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